WA's first indigenous minister dies

TRIBUTES are flowing for Australia's first indigenous cabinet minister Ernie Bridge, who has died of mesothelioma just days after launching a bid to sue the West Australian government over his illness.

Mr Bridge, the Kimberley MLA from 1980 to 2001, died in Perth on Sunday aged 76.

He recently lodged a Supreme Court writ seeking damages from parties including companies run by two of the nation's richest women, Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting and Angela Bennett's Wright Prospecting, claiming he was exposed to asbestos while overseeing the closure of mines and withdrawal of government services from Wittenoom in the late 1980s.

Mr Bridge, a country-music singer and guitarist, was a pastoralist before entering politics, serving as minister under WA Labor leader's Brian Burke and Peter Dowding.

The Order of Australia member and Centenary Medal recipient was lauded for his commitment to Aboriginal affairs, and was well known for promoting the concept of piping water from the Kimberley to Perth via Kalgoorlie.

Federal resources minister Gary Gray said he was known as Mr Kimberley.

"Mr Bridge was a visionary who never stopped working for the people of the north," Mr Gray said.

He had a deep commitment to Aboriginal representation and I believe made a significant contribution to democracy and Aboriginal enfranchisement.

Former WA Attorney-General Jim McGinty told ABC radio on Monday that Mr Bridge was loved by both sides of politics, and recalled an occasion where he sang a song in parliament with guitar accompaniment to underline a point he was making.

Mr Bridge was a royal commissioner for an inquiry into a dark chapter in WA's history, the treatment of Aboriginal people by police at Skull Creek.

"That royal commission led to a significant change in the way in which policing of Aboriginal people was conducted across the length and breadth of the country," Mr McGinty said.

Federal opposition indigenous affairs spokesman Nigel Scullion described Mr Bridge as one of the nicest people in politics and life.

"Mr Bridge understood the importance of a job being the best way out of poverty," he said in a statement.

"His work on trailblazing employment and health and diabetes projects saw him regularly in the halls of Parliament House in Canberra advising ministers and gathering support for his hands-on work."